Characters

The cast of Hamlet

The people who make Hamlet move — what they want, who they love, who they hate, and how each one fits the story. Tap any name to read more.

uncle: King of Norways

Fortinbras, Prince of Norway

Ambitious young warrior; catalyst for Hamlet's final reckoning · young

Son; Former husband; Brother (murderer)s

The Ghost of King Hamlet

The restless spirit of the murdered king; harbinger of revenge and moral obligation · Dead; appears as in life

father: King Hamlet (deceased); mother: Queen Gertrude; uncle (now stepfather): King Claudius

Prince Hamlet

Tragic protagonist; a Danish prince paralyzed by thought and conscience, driven to feigned madness by the ghost's demand for revenge · thirty

Brother to the late King Hamlet; uncle and stepfather to Prince Hamlet; husband to Queen Gertrudes

King Claudius

Murderous usurper and reigning King of Denmark · Middle-aged

Son of Polonius; brother to Ophelias

Laertes

Vengeful son of Polonius; the foil to Hamlet's hesitation · Young man (early twenties, implied)

father: Polonius; brother: Laertes

Ophelia

Tragic pawn caught between her father's control, her brother's protection, and Hamlet's feigned madness · young, almost fourteen

{"relation":"father","to":"ophelia"}; {"relation":"father","to":"laertes"}s

Polonius

Chief counselor to the King; meddling father whose spying leads to his death · old

son; husband (second); husband (first, deceased)s

Gertrude

Queen of Denmark, mother to Hamlet, now wife to his uncle · middle-aged

Servant to Polonius

Reynaldo

Polonius's servant and spy; messenger tasked with surveillance

Other characters

Horatio

Hamlet's loyal friend and the play's witness to truth

Rosencrantz

Childhood friend of Hamlet, court spy, and unwitting pawn in Claudius's schemes

First Clown

Comic gravedigger, philosopher of mortality

Marcellus

Sentinel on the battlements; witness to the ghost's appearance

Guildenstern

Childhood friend of Hamlet, unwitting spy for the King

Osric

Affected courtier and royal messenger; a fop who serves the King's purposes

Barnardo

Sentinel on the battlements; first witness to the ghost

Second Clown

Comic gravedigger's assistant; voice of ordinary wit

Francisco

Sentinel on the battlements of Elsinore

Captain

Norwegian military officer bearing Fortinbras's message

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Childhood friends of Hamlet, turned spies for the King
In the app

Hear every line of Hamlet, narrated.

Synced read-along narration: every character's voice, words highlighting as they're spoken — so you never lose a line.

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